Thursday, November 16, 2006

CocoaBella Chocolates

My box arrived! Recently I found a chocolate company named CocoaBella Chocolates from San Francisco. They search the world for the best chocolate. The chocolates they sell are all mostly from small, family owned chocolatiers. Their interactive website allows you to create your own box of chocolates from all of the pieces they sell. There is no more need to “sneak a peak” at the bottom of each chocolate before you eat it. All the pieces in the box will be hand selected by you! You can name each box you create and save it so you don’t have to recreate it the next time. I find selecting the chocolates for my box as fun as eating the chocolate. Well-almost!I tried to choose a variety from all of the chocolate featured. From the French collection, I found the "Palet Au The" from Michel Cluizel delicious. It is an Earl Grey Tea with dark chocolate. From the American Collection, I tried a Rosemary Caramel by Christopher Elbow. It is rosemary and caramel in a white chocolate shell. I like the different flavor combinations that are truly unexpected. I would never of thought rosemary would be used with a chocolate. The rosemary was very strong and offered many layers to the small bite. The use of salt and chocolate is such a perfect match. I am a huge fan of the salty but sweet combination. The “Hannah” from Knippschildt Chocolatier, is a liquid caramel topped with Hawaiian sea salt or I liked the firm "Fleur de Sel caramel". I think my favorite was from the Italian Maglio collection, “Croccante” a crunchy almond praline.

My box of chocolates arrived and I found it to be a treasure chest of inspiring new ideas and tastes. The chocolates are beautiful as well as diverse in flavor and appearance. As the box is quickly disappearing, there is one comment that has stayed constant…”if only we had one more piece like that one!”

-Fer"Eating a little bit of chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health" -Professor Diane Becker